Rubik

Chapter 6: Black Hearted part 1

     The rest of the week felt like a blur. Nothing actually happened and life seemed to get back on track. After Rachel and I had kissed, I felt like I was just gliding through everything and I didn't want that feeling to stop. But life was cruel and it had to stop eventually... I was making my way to Rachel's house when she stepped outside, falling to the floor. She had a gash on her face, freshly cut as if some sort of beast had been inside and attacked her like prey. I rushed over and knelt beside her, trying to clean the cut on her face and stop the bleeding.

     "Jesus, what happened to you???" I asked her, frantic as the wound refused to stop bleeding.

     "O-Oliver... He-he's going insane..." She coughed out as she tried to sit up. I pulled off my jacket-- thankful it was red this day, so the blood wouldn't show as bad and freak Rachel out-- and stood up.

     "Stay here, I'll deal with him," I told her and I walked inside the house. I looked around and the place was like the product of a wasteland. Everything was either scratched up, broken, shattered, or flipped around. The only thing that was untouched was the light that hung above the room. I heard shouting upstairs, so I slowly walked up the staircase, waiting for something to pop up at any moment. Every step up felt like an eternity as I moved at a snail's pace. I heard shattering and screaming, and it only got louder as I finally made it up to the second floor. "Oliver?" I called out, but the shouting didn't stop. I looked at the wallpaper and doors, everything had a deep cut in them, like a monster dragged its claws against the walls and walked down the hallway.

     The doors were all open and breaking off the hinges, except for one-- Oliver's room. I stood in front of the door as the shouting was at its loudest. "Oliver!" I called out and the shouting suddenly stopped. I reached out for the doorknob and I heard something slam against the door.

     "GO AWAY!!!" I heard Oliver shout from the other side and I jumped back. I pulled out my Rubik's cube and slowly turned the knob again. I pushed the door open and it creaked as it revealed the inside of Oliver's room. Everything was just like the other rooms, except a lot worse. There were more cuts and scratches on the bedpost, walls, and even the light. The light was broken and flickering, giving it all a horrific feel. Oliver just stood in the middle of the room, holding his head and looking at the floor.

     "O-Oliver...?" I called out as I took a single step into the room. "What the hell happened in here...? The whole house is a wreck, your sister is downstairs in pain, and you're just standing--"

     "Don't you know how to listen, Ray...?" Oliver asked as he didn't even move still. I froze in place. He slowly dropped his hands to his side. His hands were covered in blood, his own blood, as his nails had grown larger and sharper. He stood up straight and looked at the opposite wall. "I told you to go away, didn't I?" He turned slowly and he looked... monstrous. His skin had paled completely, his hair stood on ends, his eyes were as red as the blood on his hands, and his teeth... They were sharper than blades. "But you just don't listen." He took a step forward, making me take a step back.

     "Oliver... Take it easy now... You're not acting like yourself..." I tried to talk to him, but he refused to listen.

     "Now I have to hurt you," He said in a voice that wasn't even his own. He ran at me and pounced, knocking me to the floor just outside his bedroom. He stood above and grabbed me by my shirt.

     "Don't... make me do this.... Oliver..." I coughed as I looked up at him. I slowly started to mess with my cube, solving the white side as Oliver raised his hand to strike. Before he could make contact, I shot my cube forward and a blast of blinding light escaped, throwing Oliver back. He shouted as he held his eyes. I stood up and Oliver was up just after. He lunged at me again, but I took off and tried to escape. He ran at me with crazy speed and I looked behind to see how close he was. I missed a step down and tripped down the whole staircase. Oliver walked down a step and jumped to land on top of me. As he landed, I shot another burst of light to knock him off. I ran outside and saw Rachel on her feet. She looked at me as Oliver shouted from inside the house again.

     "Get the others!" I shouted at her as I turned to deal with Oliver. Oliver pounced on me again and I hit the back of my head against the concrete pavement. My cube rolled just out of my reach and Oliver stomped on my wrist. I tried to pull away, but he was insanely strong. He reached his hand down and cut my wrist, blood dripping down. He opened his mouth, but I punched him in the jaw with my free hand. "You're not you, Oliver," I said to him. "So I won't feel as bad for this." I reached out again and the cube rolled back into my hand. I blasted another burst of light and that forced him back.

     "You... You bitch..." He said, but I sent another blast of light and forced him to the ground. As I looked down at him, I saw his skin start to peel and burn from the light. I looked at the cube and I saw the light coming from it seem... almost like a burning UV ray.

     "Ray!" I heard from the distance and I turned back, seeing the others coming over. Oliver stood up and kicked me in the spine, knocking me back down. Oscar saw and threw several of his cards at Oliver, all of them solidifying and striking the man. They pierced his shoulders, but he just pulled them out and crushed them like nothing. I looked at Oliver and shot another blast of light, this one only blinding him. Dylan threw something on the floor. It was his signature 20-sided die from his Dungeons and Dragons game. It rolled onto a 20 and Dylan slid on the pavement. He seemed to glide easily, like he was on ice, and sent a powerful strike into Oliver's stomach. He chuckled and picked Oliver up. He sent another punch into his stomach, then another. And another. He didn't stop, until I pulled Ray back and shouted at him.

     "Dylan, calm down! He's still our friend!" I shouted at him.

     "No, he's too far gone and has to go!" Dylan shouted in my face.

     "He needs our help!" I shouted back, trying to get Dylan to see that Oliver just needed us to help him back up.

     "He needs to die!" Dylan shouted.

     "So he loses it one time and he has to be put on death row?! Real fair, Dylan!" We kept going back and forth.

     "Says the guy who just went through a fight with him and beat the crap out of him!" All of a sudden, Dylan gasped and stopped altogether. I looked down and saw Oliver had ripped through his spine and snapped it from the back. 

     "Is... that enough... evidence... Detective..." Dylan whispered and he dropped to the ground, his eyes painfully open as they stared at me. Rachel had her hands over her mouth, tears forming in her eyes. Oscar could only stumble back and look on. Oliver licked the blood that was on his hands and he suddenly snapped out of it. He dropped to his knees and looked at the scene he caused. He started to stutter and gasp and cry all at once.

     "What did I do?!?! I... I didn't mean to! I didn't!" He shouted and all I could do was look at him.

     "I... I know..." I coughed out as I turned my look to Dylan's corpse. I closed his eyelids and tried to look away, but I just couldn't...

     "Do you know what I just did?!" Oliver shouted out as he looked along with the rest of us.

     I took a long look at Dylan's body and let out a slow breath. I closed my eyes and all I could say was, "I do..."